Corrie star Kevin Kennedy commits to Milton Keynes musical

Thirty years since The Commitments burst from the pages of Roddy Doyle’s best selling novel, a musical adaptation comes to Milton Keynes Theatre.

Running until Saturday November 5, the show stars Coronation Street’s Kevin Kennedy, best known for his role as Curly Watts in the soap.

The Commitments is the story of Jimmy Rabbitte, a young working class music fan, who shapes an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians and friends into an amazing live act, the finest soul band Dublin has ever produced.

Placing a classified advert in a music paper, Jimmy auditions a number of wannabes before finalising the new line up who he names The Commitments.

Kevin said: “It is a very typical Roddy Doyle piece, this isn’t the standard musical like The Sound of Music or anything like that, it is a very grown up piece.

“But I like the fact that in among everything that is going on, this is the one time that all of these characters created something legendary and got it right.

“In many ways, this is a celebration of something like that, that is special.

“But in typical Roddy Doyle, it doesn’t have an ending which is happy.”

With more than 20 soul classics performed live on stage including: Night Train, Try A Little Tenderness, River Deep, Mountain High, In The Midnight Hour, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, Save Me, Mustang Sally, I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Thin Line Between Love and Hate, Reach Out, Uptight, Knock On Wood, I Can’t Turn You Loose and more!

Kevin plays Jimmy Da in the musical and he was a big fan of the novel and original author.

He said: “I was very aware of it and so when the chance came to be in this show, I really leapt at it.

“From there, I got to meet Roddy Doyle as well who was a lovely man.”

Kevin Kennedy won the hearts of the nation when he starred as Curly Watts in Coronation Street.

Since leaving Coronation Street, Kevin has regularly appeared in theatre productions and is no stranger to musicals. He has taken roles in Chicago, The Rocky Horror Show, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and We Will Rock You.

But there is one part he’s always asked about.

Kevin said: “I don’t mind talking about it, I have such great memories of working on the show, made some great friends. I don’t get much chance to watch it now but my wife keeps me up to date.

“And I don’t mind people asking about it. It’s nice to be remembered, but it is a little churlish to not talk about a role that has bought so much enjoyment to people.”

For further details or to book tickets call the box office on 0844 871 7652 or visit www.atgtickets.co.uk/miltonkeynes.